The Nicki Effect: The Return Of The Female Rap Movement
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Which is why Nicki Minaj is a curious case. At the onset of her career, she had it all - the body, the lyrics, the co-sign - but she instead predicated her image on eccentricities: alter egos, accents, rhymes about being an alien. It’s that embrace of the bizarre that made her such a captivating figure and pushed her into pop territory, where weird is welcome. Regardless of how her music has evolved, she came from a place that took a tired template and mutated it, taking chances rarely seen across the gender divide.
Her effect on mainstream culture has rippled through the Hip Hop community.While some refer her ascent to the top of pop’s ranks as “********,” it’s cracked the back door open, and even inspired the demand, for a stronger female voice in mainstream Hip Hop.
Some have accused Minaj of jumping the shark by outright pandering to pop tastes - a back-turn on those who put her on their shoulders - but it’s in effect blurring a gender divide that’s long plagued Hip Hop. If a man can do it, then so can a woman - and what if she can do it better?
